[WEB4LIB] intenet porn in library: hostile..

[Jennifer Heise]

Ok, I'm going to say it: why do people keep treating a behavior problem
(public viewing of pornography, and placing of it in areas where other
people have to view it) as a content problem?

If a kid walked into a library brandishing Playboy's centerfold and
stuck it under the librarian's nose, or started peeing in a corner, it
would be considered a conduct issue and security and parents would be
notified. If a patron started making verbally sexually harrassing
remarks to me when I was on the desk, I'd call my supervisor, they'd
call security, and the issue of the patron's BEHAVIOR would be
addressed.

Why is this a content issue at all?

> Who is being "hostile" here?

Me, for one. I'm very hostile towards labelling something or someone as
'PC'. I don't feel simply calling something a name is a) some sort of
reasonable argument for or against it, or b) appropriate rhetoric for
professional discussion.

> Anyone out there sympathetic to the Minn. librarians and who can discuss
> the real issues with sensible demeanor without dragging the reader through
> a cesspool infected string of merely politically correct thought? 
> I think some of us should re-read the "guidelines for appropriate list
> behavior"

For instance, the tone of the above phrase ' cesspool infected string of
merely politically correct thought', is not what I would call polite.
 
-- 
/   Jennifer Heise, Helpdesk/Librarian, Lehigh Univ. Information
Resources
\ \ Fairchild-Martindale Library, 8A Packer Ave, Bethlehem PA 18015 
  / Phone (610) 758-3072          Email: jahb at lehigh.edu

"Comment is free, but facts are on expenses." -- Tom Stoppard